Matt Damon's 'The Great Wall' Crumbles With $21 Million U.S. Debut

Acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou’s The Great Wall, starring Matt Damon, bombed in its U.S. debut with en estimated $21 million from 3,325 theaters over the long Presidents Day weekend, including a three-day tally of $18.1 million. That’s a poor start considering the movie’s $150 million production budget. Revised estimates for Presidents Day weekend will be released Monday morning, while final numbers won’t be ready until Tuesday. In any case, the first Presidents Day weekend of Donald Trump’s tenure turned out to be a something of a bust at the box office.

None of the new offerings — Great Wall, New Line’s comedy Fist Fight and New Regency/Fox’s psychological thriller A Cure for Wellness — were be able to topple holdovers The Lego Batman and Fifty Shades Darker.

From Warner Bros., Lego Batman is doing pleasing business in its second weekend as it jumps the $100 million mark domestically. The family film is projected to top the Presidents Day chart with a four-day gross of $45 million, including  a three-day tally of $35 million from 4,088 theaters. The film’s total through Monday will be nearly $110 million.

Fifty Shades Darker saw far less of a decline in its second weekend than the first film, Fifty Shades of Grey. the sequel dipped 55 percent for the three days to $20.9 million from 3,714 theaters for a projected four-day take of $24.1 million and domestic tally of $92.9.

Legendary Pictures teamed with Universal in making the The Great Wall. The movie, skewered by critics and earning a mediocre B CinemaScore from audiences, is billed as the first English-language production shot entirely in China.

The story centers on European mercenaries searching for black powder who become embroiled in the defense of the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures. Damon stars along with Jing Tian, Pedro Pascal, Willem Dafoe and Andy Lau.

Great Wall has done giant-sized business in China, where it has earned $171 million (it has earned another $54 million in other foreign markets to date).

Lionsgate’s hit male-fueled action movie John Wick: Chapter Two, starring Keanu Reevnes, placed No. 4 in its sophomore session with an estimated $16.5 million for the three days and $19.5 million for the four, bringing the movie’s early domestic title to $61.7 million.

Fist Fight, starring Ice Cube, Charlie Day, Christina Hendricks, Dennis Haysbert and Tracy Morgan, followed at No. 4.

Fist Fight, earning a B CinemaScore, grossed an estimated $12.2 million from 3,185 theaters for the three days and $14.6 million for the four. The story follows a school teacher who gets fired, and challenges another teacher to an after-school fight. It’s directed by Richie Keen.

When it comes to director Gore Verbinski’s Cure for Wellness, there wasn’t any remedy that could stop the moive from perishing in its debut. Regency/Fox’s psychological thriller grossed an estimated $4.2 million from 1,750 theaters for the the three days and $4.8 million for the four.

Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs and Mia Goth star in the $40 million film, which follows a young executive who is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious “wellness center” at a remote location in the Swiss Alps, but soon suspects that the spa’s miraculous treatments are not what they seem.

Late last week, Fox apologized for planting fake news stories as part of the movie’s digital marketing push. Cure for Wellness will come in No. 10 or No. 11.